Meat Lovers and the Call to Copy Christ

…and they shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us. Matt. 1:23

I consider myself a complete carnivore when it comes time for dinner. Forget the vegetables—give me meat. And lots of it. Okay, the truth is: I actually don’t mind the greens, so long as there is plenty of yummy carne for the main dish. I’m good for carne just about anything.

Carne asada, anyone?

By the way, did you know that ancient festivals were meat-eating spectacles, often called—you guessed it—carnivals?

Which brings me to my main dish—um, my main point. The Incarnation—note the embedded root word carne—means God “took on meat.” At Christmas we celebrate the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus got up-close and personal with people. The Son of God did not reside or hide in a lofty, faraway, ivory tower mansion. Instead, the Savior entered our human experience in a deeply connected, flesh-and-bone sort of way.

Christians sometimes talk about doing Incarnational ministry. The idea is to embody Christ, to be his hands and feet, so to speak. Wherever we live, wherever we go, we want to emulate our Lord, to follow in his steps (1 Pet. 2:21).

The question is: Are we doing that? That is, are we emulating Jesus? The Apostle Peter says that Christ left us an “example” to follow (1 Pet. 2:21). In Greek, the word “example” is hypogrammos. You can just about see in that concoction of letters our English word grammar. Think writing. Like a kid in kindergarten who copies the writing he sees on a chalkboard. Little Billy sees and tries to mimic those letters on his written page, one stroke of the pencil after another. Just follow the pattern, Billy. Monkey see, monkey do.

This is us. We watch Jesus. We pay attention to Christ’s life. We follow the Savior’s example, especially in his suffering. Go back and read 1 Peter 2:21 again. The Pascal Lamb suffered and died. No reviling on his part. No threats or retaliations. Our Lord simply entrusted himself to the Father (1 Pet. 2:23), even as Immanuel—God with us—endured death on a cruel cross.

We look to Jesus, as Hebrews 12:2 says, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.” Jesus-emboldened, joy-sustained suffering is a pattern worthy of copy and paste. The Christ-filled, cross-bearing life is how we “flesh out” our faith—call it “the meat” of Christianity.